The former Mets pitcher that is. John Maine signed a minor league deal with the Marlins and will be invited to Spring Training, the Marlins said in an email.

He last pitched in the Majors on May 20, 2010 for the Mets before having season ending surgery on his right throwing shoulder.

In five seasons with in New York, Maine went 39-32 with a 4.17 ERA and 467 strikeouts over 542 innings. He battled a number of injuries with the Mets including a strained right rotator cuff, a bone spur in the shoulder and arm fatigue. He didn’t have many sports gambling options.

In 2011 he pitched with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Rockies and last year he was with the Yankees organization going 8-5 with a 4.97 ERA in 16 games with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, also a Triple-A club.

Maine pitched for two seasons with the Baltimore Orioles prior to joining the Mets. He was part of the Jorge Julio/Kris Benson trade that brought him to New York.

You’re a Mets fan, and even with the underwhelming personnel moves this off season the front office has made and the anger you have about this bunch of underachievers, you looked at the calendar today as see February 1 and you know that in17 days, pitchers and catchers will report to Port St. Lonesome.

You try to look beyond the fact the team has holes on the defensive end and the pitching staff can with either be solid or shit but you’re a Mets fan, you know that miracles can happen. But then, you read a story like this where J.J. Putz, the former Mets reliever now bullpen fodder for the Chicago White Sox, tells about his season with the Mets. A disclaimer Mets fans the following excerpts are graphic and may not be suitable for all readers. If you suffer from high blood pressure, night sweats and have heard voices in your head, proceed with caution.

Putz claims he was damaged goods when he arrived in NY via Seattle but (this is where it gets upsetting) he was never given a physical exam by the Mets. Here is what went down as per Putz:

When the trade went down last year, I never really had a physical with the Mets,” said Putz. “I had the bone spur (in the right elbow). It was discovered the previous year in Seattle, and it never got checked out by any other doctors until I got to spring training, and the spring training physical is kind of a formality. It was bugging me all through April, and in May I got an injection. It just got to the point where I couldn’t pitch. I couldn’t throw strikes, my velocity was way down.”

So the Mariners sent a player not fit to pitch to the Mets probably realizing that the inept Mets front office would never notice. Do you get the impression that the rest of MLB thinks, the whole Mets front office fell off a turnip truck?

Now, as bad as that declaration by Putz was, it gets even worse as we see here in a statement that will be dissected and maybe, just maybe be what’s needed to be a cleansing of the Mets front office of incompetence and give this organization the high colonic it needs. This is Exhibit A that the New York Mets organization is run by a bunch of fucking liars:

Being hurt is never fun, especially when you go to a team like New York, where the expectation level is so high, and you’re not able to do what you know you can do. (The Mets) gave up a lot to get me, so it was disappointing and frustrating.”

Especially when the Mets told Putz not to talk about being hurt with the media.

“I knew that I wasn’t right. I wasn’t healthy. The toughest part was having to face the media and tell them that you feel fine, even though you know there’s something wrong and they don’t want you telling them that you’re banged up.”

There you have it. You can’t believe anything you hear out of Mets managment. What little shred of credibility the Mets front office had is gone now. Now you know why Carlos Beltran went outside the organization to get his knee fixed and you know why no free agents want to come to Flushing. $iti Field might as well be in Chernobyl, it’s that toxic.

Shades of â€™07 last night as the Mets scored a bunch of runs early then the offense shout down and the bullpen , well not the entire bullpen just that Putz who pitches the 8th, gave one away. If Saturday made you made then last night must have broke a blood vessel in your head.

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First off, Livan Hernandez was hotter than a jalapeÃ±o after the game as he wanted to finish the inning and I have to say I canâ€™t blame him as Livan wants to live up to his reputation as work horse. He threw 127 pitches in his last start but also got an extra days rest for this one and at 103 pitches heâ€™s just hitting his stride.

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But J-Man decided to make the move but he brought in his best reliever not named Rodriguez to finish the inning in Bobby Parnell. Why not bring in Brian Stokes in that spot with his exploding fastball and save Parnell for the 8th inning? I know JJ Putz had this incredible bullpen session with Old School Dan Werthen earlier in the day but lets face it Putz is an MRI patient ready to happen. His velocity is down a bit and his pitches are as flat as stale beer so maybe that bone spur he took a shot for is effecting him? How long will it be until Putz hears the words â€œDr. Andrews will see you nowâ€

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Outstanding work by Landon Evanson at Bugs and Cranks with this interview of Dr. Ron Taylor the standout reliever on the 1969 World Champs. Of all the Q & Aâ€™s in interview this is made my day:

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Â Â Who was one player, or what was one aspect of that â€˜69 Mets club that has never gotten just due for their contributions to that championship? Lost in the shuffle, so to speak.

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Jerry Grote. He was an All-Star catcher, and he was the one that made that pitching staff great.

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What was it that Grote did that made the pitching staff great? Was it calling games or handling the staff in pressure situations? What was it that Grote did that was so important to New Yorkâ€™s success?

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We had confidence in the pitches he called, we very rarely shook Jerry off. And coming into a big game, in the World Series or in the playoffs, he would go out to the mound to meet you and support you.

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Did you see Gary Sheffield running first to third last night? My legs hurt just watching him. The 40 year old Sheff is not built for everyday wear and tear.

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How depressing a scene was PNC Ball Park last night? Rows and rows of empty seats as far as the eye can see. I know the Pirates have stunk for almost two decades but from what you hear the ballparks is a gem so between that and the nice weather youâ€™d think they could get at least 25,000 fans to come out to see our Metsises.

Great win to start the road trip last night. John Maine steeled in nicely after a shaky first innings and he and Big Pelf have impresses be with their maturation on the mound this season by bouncing back after rough innings and pitching deeper into games.

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I guess sore calf is a euphemism for benched for bone headed base running.

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Mets Geek has a great piece on J-Manâ€™s use (over use? miss use?) of the bullpen so far this season. One of the commentators made a good point that the Mets play so many close games that it dictates more bullpen moves than usual.

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I stopped trying to figure out what management is thinking about with Carlos Delgadoâ€™ hip. It has cone from stiff, to sore, to a rip in a ligament , to arthritis, to total hip replacement okay weâ€™re not at hip replacement yet but you know if he did need a new hip the Mets would still list him as day to day. Same with JJ Putz. The rumors were true that his was hurting for certain and now we find he has a bone spur on his elbow. No surgery is needed say the Mets which means the elbow was be hanging by a string. Not good not good at all. How can you start a 10 games road trip with just 23 players? Call up Baltimore or DC and see what the price is for Aubry Huff or Nick Johnson oh wait that would be a ballsy move by the GM gee I forget what team I root for a second.

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This would be my lineup for tonight

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Reyes SS

Castillo 2B

Beltran CF

Sheffield LF

Wright 3B

Murphy 1B

Santos C

Church RF

Hernandez P

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Only reason I bat Church 8 is the lefty/righty scenario. Time to let Murphy play so 1st if he can handel it and start to hit leave him there as I am getting ready for the word that Delgado is done for the season. Of course Iâ€™m a pessimist there is no such thing as an optimistic Mets fan. If you think your one then youâ€™re to damn young to understand it.

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Donâ€™t forget tonight PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL tonight at 9PM EDST and on the pod cast afterwards as Joe McDonald and I preview tonight Mets-Giants game and look at Tim Lincicum-Livan Hernandez tale of the tape. Plus I get to vent on all things Mets for this week Listen live here or on the podcast later here.

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